I am the snail with an itchy foot

This is how I have described myself when people ask me about what prompted me to recently leave my job.

The comparison is to a character in Julia Donaldson’s lovely book, The Snail and the Whale. I feel a kinship with this snail who was different than all the others, not content to sit on the rock in the same place in the bay, so he called a whale by writing in slime, “Ride wanted around the world.”

I get itchy when I am in one place for too long and start to wonder “what’s next.” I see myself articulated in this character. 

I love when an author captures:

a phrase
a character
an idea

that resonates so strongly it becomes part of your life.

You develop memories, feelings and connections with another person’s creation. 

My family has a lot of these:

• “Absoloodle!” to show excitement and certainty about something (Doc, from The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay)

• “hi, hi” to start a text message or announce my presence when I enter a room, channeling the endearing seagull, Bertrand (The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers).  (We also keep an eye out for the “control the animals people” when our dog “runs like light” off his leash, and we pretend we are “scientists of time” when estimating the age of rocks - 600 or 600,000,000 years old)

• “something spectacular” to describe the purpose of my kids’ furious digging as they unearth piles of treasure-filled dirt (Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett).

• “piffle” when I don’t like the sound of something or get frustrated (Willowdeen by Katherine Applegate)

• “fairy wogdog” when I look at my puppy who is oh so mischievous (Watership Down by Richard Adams)

• “rain brooms,” to so aptly describe the way rain looks as storms sweep across our mountain west skies (Fox and I by Catherine Raven). 

• Lift...pull…flop…liftpullflopliftpullflop... a mantra I repeat when I feel stuck and need to figure out how to get started on something on my own (The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein).

Books not only give us ideas, take us to new worlds, challenge our thinking and teach us, but they can also bring characters, words and concepts into our everyday lives. 

And what’s so beautiful is that the very same book connects with people uniquely based on each reader’s experience. What a cool gift writers and artists can give to others: something that sparks connection, invites curiosity, bolsters courage and becomes part of our lives. 

I invite you to think about (and share if you’d like!) how ideas, characters and words from books have woven themselves into the essence of your life. Who are the literary friends that have become part of your world? 

Absoloodle!